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I recently discovered a wonderful new tool called Utterz. It allows you to easily record short audio messages to people in your circle of influence. You can also add video. I tried it for the first time this morning and am hoping to make it a regular part of my week. My goal is to provide another way for me to connect with you and let you know what's on the radio show, what's new in the newsletter, where I'll be traveling, etc. Click the orange button with the arrow to enjoy my first Utter!
What do you think? Is this useful? Should I keep uttering?Please post your feedback in the comments section below.
To enjoy more of my Utterz and get Indie business tips, subscribe to Indie Business Blog today. I'd love to get to know you better and know that you're coming back for more!
How I'm Preparing My Kids For Indie Business Ownership
Yesterday, I Twittered about my 4-year old son scrambling his own eggs. A few people thought that was a little young. I used to think so, but now that I have children, I am constantly amazed at the things they can do when we give them a chance. A few private conversations started on the topic so I thought I'd share my motivation for making sure my kids, ages 4 and 6, learn good home management skills while they are young. As you can see, that includes doing some of their own laundry.
But first, I have to tell you about my homeschooling mom friend and mother of 3 boys, Beverly Lucas. Beverly and I have known each other since 1998. At one time, we met by phone on Monday mornings to encourage each other and talk about the week ahead. Toward the end of our time together, every Monday, her boys knocked on her bedroom door and I heard them say, "Mom, we finished our chores. Is there anything else we can do for you?"
Her oldest son was 6 at the time.
I was astonished. Did they even make kids like that anymore? Of course, as a mom now, I know that kids like that aren't made. They're trained.
Over the years, I have looked to Beverly for all kinds of mom encouragement and parenting advice One of the things Beverly helped me do is start teaching my kids solid home management skills as soon as they could walk. I have been amazed at the things they can do, even starting as young as 2 years old.
Like transferring trash from a small trash can into a bigger one, putting their plates on the counter after they finish a meal, sweeping the floor and picking out clean underwear from a pile of laundry and putting it away. These are things a child can do at a very young age. I would never have known had Beverly not taught me.
It's a challenge, I admit. I can sweep the floor much faster and better than my 6-year old daughter. Instead of asking my 4-year old son to take out the recyclables, I or my husband could do it. I could also sort all of the laundry in less than half the time it takes them to do it. I let them do it, and takes much longer. But I do it because I want my kids to have more than just book smarts.
Home Management Skills Are Easily Transferred To Business
I know lots of grown folks with plenty of book smarts, who are incapable of managing a home. I don't want that for my children, and I don't want it for my future kid-in-laws either. My friends and I laugh when I say that I don't want some sad new bride calling me up in the middle of the night in 20 years, complaining that the man I raised can't scramble her an egg. But I digress.
Because I tend to be on the impatient side, it can be painful to supervise my childrens' chore progress. My son always walks through the pile of trash my daughter is sweeping, inevitably starting a fight. He also hates making two trips to do anything, so becomes especially frustrated when he can't carry all of the recyclables at one time. And I'll never forget the time when me and his sister were busy cleaning up the kitchen, and when I reminded him he was supposed to be helping, he said, "But it's just not fun enough for me." (By the way, that was the last time his father ever left me and his daughter in the kitchen to clean it up by ourselves. Sorry, hon. I have to tell it like it is.)
When they load the dishwasher, I always have to go back and re-load it (without them knowing) so more dishes can be washed at one time.
All the while, I praise their achievements, keeping my eye on the ultimate prize of children who are equipped to be leaders in a 21st century world that will not be nearly as welcoming as the 20th century one in which I came of age.
They'll need more than a good resume, a good education and a few summers of volunteer work. They'll need skills. They'll need to demonstrate multi-tasking abilities and be able to engage in quick deductive reasoning under pressure.
And whether or not they have a traditional job, they will need to have at least one income stream of their very own. They will need to be Indie, so their father and I work hard to ensure that they master both home management and business ownership skills.
Three guiding principles help us do it.
1. Home Management First, Then Business Management
When you're Indie, especially if you're also a mom like me, your heart must be in your home first. That doesn't mean that I always choose giving a bath over signing a speaking contract, but it does mean that I check my heart daily to make sure that my home has first place.
Sometimes, this is a tough juggling act. I have to admit that it's often made easier by the fact that my husband is here with me all day and we can trade off on work and business. But as in most homes in America, I am the one managing the home day to day. I decide where and how the money will be spent and I make most of the scheduling decisions. I want both of my children, not just my daughter, to be able to do that when the time comes. I want both of them to be capable of leading a home and a business. And I want them to understand that, if home and family don't come first, then ultimately there may be little to show for your efforts as a business owner.
2. You Get Paid For Business Management, Not For Home Management
Most families these days have some kind of small business at home. When my kids were just 2, they started emptying the trash in the home office for a quarter. This money goes into their money jar right away. I make the chores age appropriate, but remember that they don't really have to accomplish much to teach the lesson.
If my son empties a trash can with 2 sheets of balled up paper in it, or my daughter does something as simple as wipe off the window sills or put all the pens in the pen holder, they still get paid. This teaches them that they have to work for money. If you connect the task to your business, it also teaches them a little about entrepreneurship. (You may also be able to deduct these payments on your taxes. Check with an accountant first.)
We do not compensate our children for doing chores around the house, because life doesn't work that way. Chores are a part of your contribution to the family. Mommy doesn't get paid for sorting the laundry, and neither will you.
But mommy does get paid in her business, and you can too.
3. Because I Said So
Not enough parents say that these days. At ages 4 and 6, my kids are too young to understand everything their father and I have to deal with as we co-lead our home. Yes, you have to clean up your room to my satisfaction before you go outside to play, and yes, the reason is because I said so. I don't have to make my son understand that taking care of his home before he plays with his friends builds character and instills responsibility. He doesn't care anyway at age 4. All he wants to do is ride his bike.
But he can understand unwelcome consequences if he doesn't do what I say he needs to do. That may sound strict and I suppose it is. But we feel that it prepares him for a life where each day starts at zero, and where he and he alone is responsible for whether or not he makes any money.
There will come a time when he will be able to comprehend the big picture. But for now, go take care of business. And yes, because I said so.
My children will not have the job options I had when I finished college and law school. They won't be able to rely as much as I did on a good resume to launch their parachute. They'll need good home management skills.
If you can manage a home, you can do anything, right?!!
What say you?
I'm sure you have some good tips to share to help me and others do a better job of preparing our kids for Indie Business ownership. Please share yours in the comments section below.
For more inspiring tips for home managers and business owners, subscribe to Indie Business Blog today. I'd love to get to know you better and know that you're coming back for more!
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A Call To Twitter Action
In her book, It Takes A Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us, Senator Hillary Clinton stressed the importance of a group approach to child rearing. She reminded us that, while a family is a distinct unit, each one forms a part of a whole, and that, when an individual unit is lifted, the entire group rises. While Clinton's message was specific to children and families, it also applies when it comes to Indie Business owners.
This was brought home to me in a real way last Saturday when a member of the Indie Beauty Network emailed me in great distress. She's married and the mother of young children. Tina (not her real name) had emailed me several months ago to share that she and her husband were going through counseling in an effort to save their marriage. Things were on a good track for a while, but as of last Saturday, they had fallen apart.
Touching Through Technology
Tina reached out through email to me, a fellow sojourner, a part of her village. A part of her tribe. I responded to her email immediately: "Call me." She did, and while I could not solve her problems or go through her pain for her, I lifted her up and prayed with her because she was open to that. I also reminded her of her intelligence (she has a master's degree), capabilities (her business is going well and she's also home schooling) and encouraged her as a fellow Indie and mother. I reminded her that she is fully equipped to rear her children as a single mom if that is what she is called upon to do.
Like most other Indies, Tina runs her business from her home. She is also a home schooling mom in a community where separation and divorce are taboo subjects. As Tina put it, "Everything is supposed to be perfect." Tina felt especially isolated because she realized that, for years, she had pretended that everything was perfect. Now that she was accepting the fact that things weren't perfect, she was at a loss, afraid for herself and afraid that her children might be unfairly treated once their friends found out that they no longer lived with their father.
Could Twitter Make a Difference?
As Tina and I talked, I pondered the enormous potential of social media in her situation. I found myself suggesting that she join me at Twitter and meet up with some other home schooling mom Indie Business owners who could encourage her and lift her up. Tina is not ready for that yet. But I have seen the power of Twitter and other social media outlets when it comes to building up the global village of women, men and families who are managing homes and businesses at the same time.
I think Tina is a bit skeptical of Twitter and social media in general. I was too. Weren't you? Did you think that anyone who you didn't already know would care one iota how you answered the question, "What are you doing?" Did you think that your life was boring and that strangers couldn't possibly be intrigued enough to read about how you feel from moment to moment throughout the day as you tend to your home and your family simultanously?
How many of you, like me, just didn't get it at first?
Reach Out And Tweet Someone
Tina doesn't yet know about the women I met a few days ago over at Twittermoms. She doesn't know that there's a huge and growing community of Indie Beauty Network members and other Indie Business owners gathering every moring to start the day, discuss breaking news, take their kids to the dentist and do all the things that must be done in order to manage home and a business, without compromising either.
Each One Tweet One
Each of us can pay our social media successes forward by reaching out to at least one or two new people every week. Will you put Tina on your list today? Will you help me tell her about the power of social media? About people like you who are poised to connect and share?
Will you leave a comment below so Tina can know that you are an Indie Business owner on Twitter. Maybe you even home school. Maybe you can tell her that, divorced or not, she's welcome in our community. Please leave your Twitter link so Tina and all of us can connect with you more easily and perhaps even follow you.
And Tina, if you're reading this, there's a wide world out there ready to embrace you and your family and encourage all of you to be your best.
For more inspiring tips for Indies, home managers and business owners, subscribe to Indie Business Blog today. I'd love to get to know you better and know that you're coming back for more!
I am fascinated by attorneys like me who pursue non-traditional career paths. One such person is Tax Girl. Her blog is funny and interesting. Subscribe to it so you can learn stuff you need to know about taxes. Tax Girl has a category at her blog called Getting To Know You. Since I can't think of a better title for this category at my blog, I'm borrowing Tax Girl's.
In my Getting To Know You column, I'm going to share with you ten interesting things about someone I know personally and professionally. Let's begin. My first Getting To Know You column features Jamila White. That's me and Jamila in a photo taken by fellow Indie and IBN member Anne-Marie Faiola while we were on Capitol Hill earlier this month with Lela Barker and Kayla Fioravanti.
10 Interesting Things About Jamila White
1. Jamila and I Once Lived in the Same Town. Jamila and I lived in the same town (Bowie, Maryland) for years before we met through the Indie Beauty Network in December 2005. At the time, I was head of the Bowie (Maryland) Chamber of Commerce's small business committee, responsible for finding speakers to deliver luncheon presentations on topics of interest to small businesses. We met in person when Jamila accepted my invitation to speak on the topic of e-commerce.
2. Jamila Makes a Good TV Show Guest. After that, Jamila accepted an invitation to be a guest on my local cable television show, the Lifestyle CEO Show. Then, I found out we were sorors, members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. By now, Jamila is getting really cool.
3. Jamila Likes Pizza. When I moved from Bowie to Charlotte in August 2006, Jamila came to my farewell pizza party. My house was empty except for a few tables and chairs. We ate pizza and chatted about what a shame it was that we lived so close for so long and were only just then sharing a pizza.
4. Jamila and I Launched a Blog Together. After talking it over with my brother (who is normally really smart but thought it was a lousy idea), I called Jamila in November 2007 and invited her to join me in launching a blog called Bootstrap Babes. Jamila was skeptical at first, but eventually, decided she was as crazy as I was to take on a new project. Within 3 months, were were interviewed for a feature in Entrepreneur Magazine, which came out this month. Read all about it at Bootstrap Babes.
5. Jamila's Sister is in the Media. Not that Jamila needs any help, but hey, it's nice to know someone with a blood relative who produces television shows. I'm always available, just in case you're wondering.
6. Jamila's Mother Lives in Vermont. I spoke on a panel and produced a promotional video at the Handcrafted Soap Maker's Guild conference in Vermont this past April. It was tons of fun. There is a law in Vermont that makes it a crime to disrobe in public. That's no surprise.
But did you know that, in Vermont, it's not illegal to walk around town naked so long as you leave your house that way? I think Jamila's mom must be at least as interesting as her daughter to live in a state with a law like that.
7. Jamila Has 3,497 and 1/2 Businesses. Well, not really, but you know. She's the E-Commerce Diva, a Bootstrap Babe and the brains behind j.blossom. She's got other stuff going on too, but a blog post can only be so long. Besides, she's hosting a free blogging seminar tonight and you need to go sign up.
(Yes, Jamila is also one of my Media Partners (see all Media Partners listed at left). Yes, this is a shameless plug for her blogging seminar. Yes, it's a good blogging seminar even though this is a shameless plug. Yes, you should attend.)
8. Jamila Has Cool Hair. Natural and un-chemical. Just the way I like it.
9. Jamila Stormed Capitol Hill With Me Earlier This Month. Jamila likes to talk. This was a good thing since we were dealing with politicians while we were there. I think a future career for Jamila includes public service. Isn't it fun to tell your friends what you think they should do?
10. When Jamila Opened Her Store, She Forgot Her Camera. Jamila always forgets her camera, so when she had a grand opening for her j.blossom store in 2006, she didn't have a camera. So if you're going someplace you know Jamila will be, please take your camera, snap a picture of the two of you together and send it to Jamila. You'll have a fun memory, and help a fellow Indie. And Jamila will use the photo to plug your business. Yes, she's that cool.
So, that's 10 interesting things about Jamila.
What about you?
Do you know Jamila? Do you agree that she is as interesting as I think she is? Please tell us something interesting about Jamila in the comments section below.
To get to know more fun people regularly, subscribe to Indie Business Blog today.
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Are you a sistapreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur?
Of course you are! Check out my new site:womenpreneurs.info
Dry Skin? Eczema? Try our Megamix Whip!
new signups receive $3.00. Use code HAPPY2006
Are you a sistapreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur?
Of course you are! Check out my new site:womenpreneurs.info
photos copyright 2008 Clarence Coggins
